Colombia's Nairo Quintana was looking pretty pleased in pink after sealing victory in cycling's Giro d'Italia. "It's really emotional," said the 24-year-old Movistar rider, who became the first Colombian to win the race. "I didn't think there would be so many Colombians here today. It was incredible seeing how many banners there were." He might have been referring just to the winners' podium, where his compatriot Rigoberto Urán was runner-up. The king of the hopeless romantics title went to Belkin rider Jos van Emden, who pulled over in the middle of a time trial to propose to his girlfriend. The Dutchman finished over three hours and 106 places behind the winner, so it was probably just as well she accepted.

Federer in French Open cull

It was Roger Federer and out at Roland Garros, as the 17-times grand slam winner crashed out of the French Open in the first week. The Fed was sunk by Latvia's Ernests Gulbis in five sets and failed to reach the quarter finals for the first time in 10 years. "I'm clearly very disappointed not to come through with the win," Federer said. Many of the first-week shocks came in the women's tournament, where the top three seeds – including defending champion and world No 1 Serena Williams – all crashed out, one of the earliest high-class culls in French Open history.

ECB says sorry to Pietersen

Another week in the topsy-turvy world of English cricket, where the ECB was forced to apologise for the suggestion by its new chief executive Paul Downton that ex-England batsman Kevin Pietersen had appeared "disinterested" and "distracted" during the side's Ashes thrashing in Australia. Aside from the fact that Downton could have been referring to almost any of the England players on the tour, the ECB explained deflatingly that his views had been "in breach of the settlement agreement" it made when terminating Pietersen's England contract earlier this year. On the field, England's one-day contest against Sri Lanka ebbed and flowed pleasingly, a crushing win for Alastair Cook's side at Old Trafford followed by a narrow defeat at Lord's – despite Jos Buttler's 121 from 74 balls – leaving the series perfectly poised at 2-2 ahead of the final game.

One-punch win for Froch

One of British boxing's most bitterly hyped rematches in recent memory ended in a re-victory for Carl Froch, who defended his WBA and IBF super-middleweight titles with a vicious one-punch knockout of George Groves in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley. There was no doubt about the outcome this time, unlike the previous meeting, which ended with a controversial refereeing decision. The result puts Froch in line for a likely Las Vegas debut against Julio César Chávez Jr later this year.